


Garden

by Katuary



Series: Rose and Thorn [11]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Injury Recovery, Major Character Injury, Marriage Proposal, Post-Dragon Age: Origins Quest - The Battle of Denerim, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:08:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28198197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katuary/pseuds/Katuary
Summary: After the Battle of Denerim and a lengthy recovery for the newly-dubbed Hero of Ferelden, Alistair has a surprise for Elissa.
Relationships: Alistair/Female Cousland (Dragon Age)
Series: Rose and Thorn [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1510469
Kudos: 10





	Garden

**Author's Note:**

> And here's the original idea that sparked both ["Safeguard"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27718496) and ["Reunion"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28145088). Glad I split these three up; they make a lot more sense (and are broken into more readable pieces) as standalone parts of the series. Enjoy the unmitigated fluff!

After another week of poking and prodding by the healers, Elissa was finally allowed short walks outside her sickroom. Just as well, since being stuck inside like a hapless maiden in a tower drove her mad. The others visited as often as she let them, and Fergus, Alistair, and Sunny were, obviously, near-permanent fixtures in her room. But there were only so many hands of Wicked Grace she could play with Zevran and Leliana before she wanted to toss the entire deck out the window.

With Alistair's coronation rapidly approaching, she had the perfect leverage to push her way back outside. It would never do for the Hero of Ferelden to miss such a ceremony, after all. 

Hero of Ferelden. _That_ would take adjustment. Yet another title for most everyone to use in lieu of her name, though she knew it was intended in respect.

She winced through dressing herself, releasing a grunt of relief when she finally clasped the closure of the cloak she'd promised to wear. Yes, it was still midwinter and cold as despair outside, but she was injured, not ill. A nice winter's gale on the healing Archdemon scar could even be helpful; though she doubted even the nobility afflicted with rapid-onset hero worship would approve of their future Queen traipsing through the snow in her smalls.

It would be a wicked scar. Despite the efforts of the best healers in Ferelden, she'd been gifted a slow-mending, seared slice of skin from her left hip to just above her heart. Even if they didn't kill you, Archdemons left their mark. She would gladly pay that price a hundred times over, knowing it had kept both her and Alistair safe.

Though Maker only knew what consequences the remainder of their choice would have.

A knock sounded at the door.

Elissa crossed the room to answer it, her mood and expression immediately brightening when she saw Alistair. He made a dramatic, sweeping show of offering her his arm. She held her straight face by a thread and took it.

"I take it the cloaks mean we're going further than the hall?" she asked.

"Absolutely."

* * *

The gardens of Denerim's palace were filmed with a fine layer of gray ash, like most everything else in the city. Arches that once housed braids of ivy and wildflowers dusted soot on their hair and shoulders as they passed beneath them. Hedges and flowering bushes, either dead from blight or dormant from cold, reached skeletal fingers toward the stone path. Fresh snow hid the worst of the damage, though Elissa knew it would be months before anything truly healed. None of it was the worst the battle had wrought, but it was a shame to see nothing green. 

Elissa and Alistair dropped the nobility-appropriate distancing the moment they reached the gardens. No one else was there; who cared that they walked with their arms looped about one another's waists? They would need to pay lip service to the nobility's sensibilities once they led the court, but that day had not yet arrived.

Which made Alistair’s quiet in the moment all the stranger.

Elissa drummed her fingers against his side to gain his attention. “You’re not saying much.”

“Aren’t I?” He laughed nervously. “Lucky you, I suppose.”

“Hilarious.” Elissa rolled her eyes and nudged her hip into his leg. “But I’m serious. Is something wrong?”

"Of course not," he said quickly, "Why would it be?"

"Because you haven't been this nervous alone with me in months?" She laughed. "You're not particularly good at keeping secrets."

"Aren't I?" He stopped them in front of a freshly cleared patch of soil and smiled mischievously. "I like to think I'm pretty decent at surprises."

Elissa took inventory of the handful of items scattered around the fresh dirt with raised eyebrows. Trowels, a bucket of compost, two pairs of simple leather gloves. She chuckled and swept her hand over the scene. "Planning on reviving the entire garden ourselves, are we?"

"Not quite."

Alistair disentangled himself from her to dig in the pocket of his shirt, fumbling a moment before pulling out a handful of tiny, ruddy brown seeds. Elissa was at a loss until she saw the skeletons of dead rosebushes on either side of the empty plot. She smiled and knelt in the ashes before the dirt. 

"Ever the romantic, aren't you?" she teased. She tugged on one of the gloves and waved him down to join her. She held back her immediate concern whether these could even grow under the joint perils of the blighted ash and winter weather; it was a sweet gesture regardless of whether it worked. 

She rose higher on her knees when he knelt beside her and kissed his cheek. "Now, where do we begin?" She dug her gloved hands in the dirt, then sifted it through her fingers. "I'll readily admit I have no idea what I'm doing."

" _There's_ a first." She swatted his shoulder and he grinned unapologetically. Even when he teased her, it somehow came out complimentary. "All right, let's see if I remember what the gardener told me..."

They probably _didn't_ get it right; Elissa would have put money on that. There was far too much joking, smearing dirt on one another, and general mayhem for anything to go according to plan. But, several minutes later, the rose seeds were nestled beneath a generous heap of soil and compost, and Ferelden's soon-to-be monarchs were sprawled side by side on their backs in the ashen snow.

"Wynne is going to kill us," Elissa said amiably, "I don't think she pictured a dirt bath when she authorized the walk."

"What can I say?" Alistair reached over and plucked a stray twig from her mussed hair. "I'm a horrible influence."

"That you are." Elissa sprinkled another pinch of dust on his chest for good measure, then folded herself into his side. Her scar throbbed, but she would clean it in the bath later. No harm done. "I suppose we should go inside and face the inevitable scolding?"

"Not...just yet."

She felt him fishing in his pocket again and turned to look, but he rolled to one side and evaded her. Elissa rose on her elbow and tried to crane her neck over his shoulder.

"Another surprise?" she asked, tugging on his arm to ease him closer.

"I..." Alistair laughed and rolled entirely to his stomach, hands folded beneath him. "Yes? But it won't be much of one if you keep peeking!"

"Oh, fine." Elissa relented and sat back on her knees, primly smoothing dirt from her trousers and closing her eyes. "There. Absolutely no spoiling your hard work. Happy?"

"More than I've ever been."

She heard him rise to his knees and she tilted her head curiously. "Awfully serious for someone who just lost a dirt clod fight."

He laughed, more softly than she expected. "Yes, well, I suppose I do have a serious question for you." More fumbling followed. He cleared his throat. "You can open your eyes now."

Elissa cracked her eyes open, a teasing smile on her lips until she saw the ring he held. Once her mind caught up to the image, she laughed. "Alistair, we're already betrothed!"

"I know, I know!" He took her left hand in his, brushing his thumb over the knuckles. "It's cheating when I already know the answer, isn't it?"

Elissa laughed quietly and pressed his fingers. "I would think you would have known my answer before the Landsmeet."

"I would hope so. I know it's silly, but—"

"It's not."

"I'm glad _you_ think so, at least." His smile grew soft again, and his thumb resumed its idle trail over the back of her hand. "I just wanted you to know that I would have asked no matter what happened at the Landsmeet. Whatever comes next...I always want it to be with you."

"You know I feel the same way." Elissa leaned in for a small kiss, then pulled back with a playful smirk. "But I don't believe you've asked me anything yet."

"Right." Alistair laughed again, holding the ring in position against the tip of her finger. "Liss, there is no one I would rather spend my life with. Will you—" She slipped through the gold band before he had a chance to speak again, just to hear another laugh. "—will you let me finish?"

"I'm sorry, was that the question?" She innocently wiggled her finger inside the ring he still held and nodded solemnly. "Yes, of course I will."

"Maker, give me the strength to keep up with my wily bride-to-be." He chuckled and took a steadying breath, releasing the ring to take her hand in both of his. "Will you marry me?"

Elissa lost her sober mask in a heartbeat, her wide grin mirroring his. She tackled him to the ground, stealing a _proper_ kiss from him for the first time since the roof of Fort Drakon. Her hands cupped his face, his kneaded her right side and lower back, careful to avoid her wound. Time passed in a blur as they held one another, tongue over lip, thumbs over cheeks, the warmth between them breaking the midwinter cold like a warm campfire. Elissa finally pulled back with a grin.

"In case you had any doubt," she said, "That was a yes."

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, beheading your enemy and declaring your engagement in front of all Ferelden's nobility is cool and all, but no one actually got a chance to _propose._
> 
> I'm fudging it a little bit, but apparently it is totally legitimate to plant rosebushes in winter. The caveat is, that should be _late_ winter (February or March) and the site I found was referencing bushes, not seeds. But magic exists in this universe, so screw it. Planting seeds in Wintermarch (January) is totally fine. Pssh.
> 
> Anyway, based on Awakening beginning on 06/17, 9:31 and being 6 months after the end of DAO, I'm pretty sure the Battle of Denerim was right around the beginning of 9:31. So, actually, given that we've spent a couple weeks healing Elissa up, that February timeline is probably close enough. I love it when a plan (accidentally) comes together!
> 
> PS: There wasn't a natural place to add it here, but if anyone's wondering, Elissa pressed the original rose in a book to preserve it on the road. 
> 
> PPS: Rolling around in post-Blight battle ash is totally fine if you're both Wardens. One of the few perks!


End file.
